Apple Rolls Out New Gadgets, Keeps Same Strategy

If you wanted new iPads, new MacBooks and new Apple software today, then Apple gave you what you wanted. As expected, Tim Cook and company refreshed their product line, threw in a couple lines dismissing the competition, and moved on.

In other words: If there’s any sense internally at Apple that the company needs to radically overhaul what it’s doing, you weren’t getting any hint of that today.

For instance: Apple continues to price its iPads at a premium compared to competitive products from Amazon and Google. And, if anything, Apple went out of its way to insist that its stuff deserves to be more expensive by kicking off its event with a video extolling its superior design principles.

Next up: A referendum from customers, who will vote with their pocketbooks in the next couple months.
————————-Earlier:

Apple is going to introduce new iPads today. They will have new innards, and at least one should have a new screen.

If you want a very good handle on what else we’re about to see at the Yerba Buena Center this morning, check out John Paczkowski’s comprehensive preview. And if you want to see Tim Cook and company show that stuff off, come back here shortly before before 10 am PT, where I’ll be covering the event live, along with my colleagues.

Note, by the way, the absence of any media-related chatter leading up to today’s event. Even today’s ritual Apple TV speculation — this time, courtesy of an analyst at Advanced Research Japan — is talking about a unicorn gadget that’s not supposed to surface until a year from now.

If you want to augment our present-tense coverage with a video stream, turn on an Apple device and head here.

9:49 am: Swing low on your weep ships, everybody! Typing this at you live from the innards of the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco. We’re at least 10 minutes away from showtime, so will be vamping a bit till then.

9:50 am: Here’s an experiment: If you want to chime in, try replying to me on Twitter at @pkafka, and I’ll see if I can include your comment in my stream of semiconsciousness.

9:53 am: I know what you’re thinking: “Hey Peter — what kind of music are they playing in the theater before iPadpalooza?”

That is a great question. Thanks for asking.

A little embarrassing, but I can’t tell. This song, for instance, sounds a bit like The Cure sped up a smidge. But I’m pretty sure it’s not The Cure.

@JohnRMcLaughlin suggests that I Shazam the music, which would be a great idea, but Shazam won’t work with this much ambient noise.

Still, Lauren Goode will try Shazaming, just to see.

Nope.

If this were an iTunes Radio station, it would be “corporate rock contemporary.”

10:00 am: A question I can answer for you: These awesome photos are courtesy of Adam Tow, who is not only our tech guru, but really good with a camera, too.

10:00 am: Lights dimming.

10:00 am: Video up.

Animation + words, meant to convey that Apple takes design very, very seriously. They don’t just slap stuff up on a shelf. Like some other people.

AllThingsD by Writer

AllThingsD.com is a Web site devoted to news, analysis and opinion on technology, the Internet and media. But it is different from other sites in this space. It is a fusion of different media styles, different topics, different formats and different sources. Read more »